Gaël L.
PhD Improved performance of brake discs for trucks, Scania/CHARMEC
PhD student at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden with SCANIA parternship. I also obtain my Master of Science in mechanical engineering at Compiègne University of Technology (France) field calculation and optimization of structures in 2009.
Along my studies, I spent 6 months at Chalmers University of Technology (Sweden) in mechanical engineering and I worked as an engineer at Volvo Car Corporation Sweden in the Advanced Body Engineering and Crash Analysis department.
My PhD work is focussed on heat partitioning between disc and pad (braking truck system), thermomechanical interactions between pad and disc, friction and wear at elevated temperatures, thermal fatigue, and thermally induced crack growth.
I have worked on several projects in mechanics and acoustics but I also followed some courses in projects management and quality management.
30 contacts2010 - 2015The brake discs of trucks are exposed to high thermomechanical loads when the kinetic energy of the vehicle is transformed into heat when brake disc and brake pads are pressed together during braking. The complex load case leads to wear of the disc but also to initiation and growth of cracks that are caused by thermally induced stresses resulting from the repeated heating and cooling of the disc. Since these cracks often control the life of the brake disc, this PhD project has been initiated in order to enhance the understanding of the mechanisms that control the crack growth and life of brake discs.
I will work on several topics that are important for the life of a brake disc and will include aspects such as: heat partitioning between disc and pad, thermomechanical interaction between pad and disc, friction and wear at elevated temperatures, thermal fatigue, and thermally induced crack growth. Simulation of temperatures and stress gradients in the brake disc at braking is central in the project. The theoretical work will be supported by brake rig tests and material testing that allows for calibration of the developed models. Different combinations of brake discs and brake pads will be studied using both simulations and testing and the results will be compared.
2009 - 2010Responsible for the adhesive joints modelling (modelling of adhesive bonding in crash simulation) on ANSA 13.0.1 and LS-DYNA 971, I had to find the best materials in order to have goods simulation results regarding the experimental results.
A theoretical study was performed and a material was choosen. After this step, a modellisation process begun and now I have to optimize the model by using LS-OPT v3.3.
Along my work, I had to define several tests process and managed them.
2007 - 2008I was responssible for developing an add-on using JAVA as informatics language. I had to understand the customer requirements in order to adapt the software. Based on Windchill 8.0 from PTC, the aim was to create access rules, life cycles, workflows, etc. A final version was delivered and several tests were performed in order to see if the solutions answered well to the initial problematic.
An other part of my work was to realise tests on Productstream Pro 2008 from Autodesk. This is an other PLM software but this one is simpler than Windchill. I had to implement a new life cycle and a key generator for the numerotation of CAD documents.